


A Long Flight Home

by ValGalFic9



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Anxious Katsuki Yuuri, Canon Compliant, Drabble, M/M, Post-Rostelecom Cup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-03
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-09-28 00:11:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10058411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ValGalFic9/pseuds/ValGalFic9
Summary: Alone on the flight home from Moscow, Yuuri reflects on his career and his relationship with Victor.





	

The flight back from Moscow seemed to last forever. Victor hadn’t answered his phone before Yuuri had to board the plane, so he could only hope Makkachin had made it through surgery alright. Making everything worse was the way he had let his worry influence his skating; something that neither Yakov or Yurio would let him forget in a hurry. 

He desperately hoped that Victor hadn’t seen the free skate. The thought of Victor seeing Yuuri fall apart without him there was mortifying. Yuuri had truly thought he could manage without Victor for one skate and he was horrified to find that he had become so dependent on the other’s presence in such a short time. He had vowed to work on his independence more upon his return to Japan, now that he was officially in the Final again.

They had kissed a few times since the Cup of China, but that had been where everything changed. Neither had brought it up, and they were still dancing around defining their personal relationship versus their professional one. 

It had always been one of Yuuri’s most fervent dreams that Victor would want him, but the reality was so different. The Victor Nikiforov of his fantasies was nothing like the crazy, exuberant, overwhelming, and frankly sometimes infuriating reality. On tv, Victor always seemed so serious and even rather aloof, especially in the past few years. Reconciling that with the clingy and boisterous man he had come to know over the past few months was enough to make Yuuri’s head spin.

Sometimes everything that had happened over the past few months still seemed unreal. The idea that a figure skating legend like Victor would put his own career on hold just to coach a nobody like Yuuri still baffled him. If the video of Yuuri skating the Stammi Vicino routine hadn’t gone viral, last year’s GPF would have been his last; Yuuri was certain of that. 

But was seeing that routine really all that it took for Victor to abandon his own season? 

Was Yuuri being selfish by letting this charade continue?

Probably. But he couldn’t find it in himself to give it up. He was closer now than ever to a win in the Grand Prix Final, and if he was honest with himself Yuuri knew he wanted that chance to go out on a high note. The chance to end his career with those he loved by his side and still proud of him.

Trying to sleep on the flight was an utter disaster. He couldn’t stop running through the events of the past few days, or thinking about Makkachin and Victor, or even worrying that his qualification for the GPF would be withdrawn for some obscure or ridiculous reason. If this had been a competition, he could have paced off his nervous energy, or snuck some time on the ice, but the plane aisles were much more limiting and crowded.

Instead he turned on a movie, something from the ‘classics’ section, and settled back in his seat. The film was something he’d watched a dozen times before and the familiarity was soothing.

His attention drifted as the film played, and Yuuri pulled out his phone. Idly flipping through the photos, he smiled as he found one Yuu-chan must have taken a few weeks ago. He and Victor were both caught mid-move while practicing the Eros choreography, and the photo had an elegance that the moment itself had lacked. Flipping through the next few photos, he found what he’d been looking for.

Nishigori had joked that they should be competing as pair skaters since they were inseparable after the Cup of China, and Victor had taken that as a challenge. Ever since, they had played around with lifts as a way to unwind.

In the photo, Yuuri was laughing as Victor lifted him off the ice with shocking ease. Then came the photo of the two of them in a heap on the ice laughing their asses off after Victor slipped and they went sprawling.

Through Victor he had found his love of skating again; he wouldn’t let Victor throw away his career just for Yuuri’s. He couldn’t do that. 

After this season, Yuuri would retire, but he would enjoy every second until then.


End file.
